WRITING UPDATES:
While Byron is sung, Lady Byron is not. So imagine my surprise when SOD Productions LLC optioned my biography Lady Byron and her Daughters for a musical! Further surprise when I realized I’ve been speaking lyrics all my life and have written a two-act musical play. More as merrily we roll along.
During the pandemic I became more and more obsessed with the writer Frances Milton Trollope, Mrs Trollope. Her first book after her four years in America was The Domestic Manners of the Americans published when she was 53. It caused a sensation in America and abroad. She went on to write 115 volumes—novels and travel books. If remembered at all today it is as novelist Anthony Trollope’s mother.
I found myself not only intrigued by the family dynamics of Anthony Trollope, one of my favorite novelists, but intrigued by his sisters and brothers and their unhinged father as well. Hence the biography I’m in the process of writing, The Family Trollope —and what a family it was!
Byron wrote that at 24 he awoke and found he was famous. As I said in my talk in the New Worlds conference in San Francisco, Fanny Trollope wondered if it were appropriate for her to say that at the age of 53 she awoke and found herself famous.
While Byron is sung, Lady Byron is not. So imagine my surprise when SOD Productions LLC optioned my biography Lady Byron and her Daughters for a musical! Further surprise when I realized I’ve been speaking lyrics all my life and have written a two-act musical play. More as merrily we roll along.
During the pandemic I became more and more obsessed with the writer Frances Milton Trollope, Mrs Trollope. Her first book after her four years in America was The Domestic Manners of the Americans published when she was 53. It caused a sensation in America and abroad. She went on to write 115 volumes—novels and travel books. If remembered at all today it is as novelist Anthony Trollope’s mother.
I found myself not only intrigued by the family dynamics of Anthony Trollope, one of my favorite novelists, but intrigued by his sisters and brothers and their unhinged father as well. Hence the biography I’m in the process of writing, The Family Trollope —and what a family it was!
Byron wrote that at 24 he awoke and found he was famous. As I said in my talk in the New Worlds conference in San Francisco, Fanny Trollope wondered if it were appropriate for her to say that at the age of 53 she awoke and found herself famous.
ENGAGEMENTS:
May 14-16, 2021: Julia will be attending the annual BIO Conference (Biographers International Organization - all virtual this year) being held in partnership with the Leon Levy Center for Biography at The Graduate Center, CUNY.
May 15, 2021: Julia will be a member of the Faculty at this year's annual, Women Who Write Conference, where she will run a virtual workshop on character building: Honestly, It's Not You, Aunt Milly: Character Development in Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction, Biography, and Memoir.
May 14-16, 2021: Julia will be attending the annual BIO Conference (Biographers International Organization - all virtual this year) being held in partnership with the Leon Levy Center for Biography at The Graduate Center, CUNY.
May 15, 2021: Julia will be a member of the Faculty at this year's annual, Women Who Write Conference, where she will run a virtual workshop on character building: Honestly, It's Not You, Aunt Milly: Character Development in Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction, Biography, and Memoir.
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Ada's 200th birthday cake at Oxford
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ABOUT:
Lectures & Appearances: Julia speaks regularly on topics of interest and expertise.
She has served on the Events Committee for the Biographers International Conference (BIO) where she was Moderator of "Keeping it in the Family. Writing about Family Matters," and directed a workshop on "Writing your first Biography."Julia was a judge for BIO's Plutarch Prize for best biography published in 2017.
She has had the honor of being selected to present the Eleventh Leslie A. Marchand Lecture at Fordham University on the publication of "Lady Byron and her Daughters, " and was an invited speaker at Oxford University on the 200th anniversary of Ada Lovelace's birth --10 December 1815-- where she spoke of the heralded computer pioneer's conflicted relationship with Lady Bryon, the single mother who raised her and Lord Byron, the seductive father, who abandoned her, but wrote beautiful poetry to reel her in. While in the UK, she also spoke on "Marriage, Regency Style" at the International English/Italian Byron Society in Bath and was invited to speak at the London Byron Society's Christmas lunch, East India Club on the same block as Ada Lovelace's townhouse.
She has presented at the University of Manchester on how, 30 years after their ill-fated marriage, and 22 years after Lord Byron's death, Lady Byron "time traveled" on Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning's secret honeymoon trip to Italy. And in Tbilisi, Georgia at the International Byron Conference she spoke for the first time of Walter Scott's fascination with Lady Byron. (See Julia's Blog for more information).
Back in the States, she read from her biography and had a Q&A as part of the Great Writers/ Great Readers Series at Hofstra University. Julia addressed the New York Society Library, and spoke at Bryant Library, and was the invited speaker at the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers Annual Literary Evening held in New York this May. In California, Silicon Valley, Julia and Paul Douglass, author of "Lady Caroline Lamb," had a series of conversations about the interconnected lives of Lady Caroline, Lady Byron and Lady Byron's daughter, the computer pioneer Ada, Countess of Lovelace, both at San Jose State University and at Books Inc. at Mountain View. Mountain View is also the home of the fascinating Computer History Museum where an exhibit featuring Ada and Lady Byron is on display for a year.
She was an invited speaker at the Biographers International Conference in Richmond Virginia, speaking on the Duel Biography Panel. She also spoke and listened at a fascinating round table about Women and Biography.
Ada, the Countess of Lovelace, now lauded as a computer pioneer, is of special interest to Julia, and she spoke of her not only at Oxford but at an Ada Lovelace Conference held at Steven's Institute of Technology. She spoke at Drew University as well on the inevitable demise of the art of letter writing and the changes it will mean not only for the biographer but for the contemporary novelist. And at the Book Revue at Huntington, NY she spoke on the similarities between fiction and nonfiction. See Press below.
Lectures & Appearances: Julia speaks regularly on topics of interest and expertise.
She has served on the Events Committee for the Biographers International Conference (BIO) where she was Moderator of "Keeping it in the Family. Writing about Family Matters," and directed a workshop on "Writing your first Biography."Julia was a judge for BIO's Plutarch Prize for best biography published in 2017.
She has had the honor of being selected to present the Eleventh Leslie A. Marchand Lecture at Fordham University on the publication of "Lady Byron and her Daughters, " and was an invited speaker at Oxford University on the 200th anniversary of Ada Lovelace's birth --10 December 1815-- where she spoke of the heralded computer pioneer's conflicted relationship with Lady Bryon, the single mother who raised her and Lord Byron, the seductive father, who abandoned her, but wrote beautiful poetry to reel her in. While in the UK, she also spoke on "Marriage, Regency Style" at the International English/Italian Byron Society in Bath and was invited to speak at the London Byron Society's Christmas lunch, East India Club on the same block as Ada Lovelace's townhouse.
She has presented at the University of Manchester on how, 30 years after their ill-fated marriage, and 22 years after Lord Byron's death, Lady Byron "time traveled" on Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning's secret honeymoon trip to Italy. And in Tbilisi, Georgia at the International Byron Conference she spoke for the first time of Walter Scott's fascination with Lady Byron. (See Julia's Blog for more information).
Back in the States, she read from her biography and had a Q&A as part of the Great Writers/ Great Readers Series at Hofstra University. Julia addressed the New York Society Library, and spoke at Bryant Library, and was the invited speaker at the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers Annual Literary Evening held in New York this May. In California, Silicon Valley, Julia and Paul Douglass, author of "Lady Caroline Lamb," had a series of conversations about the interconnected lives of Lady Caroline, Lady Byron and Lady Byron's daughter, the computer pioneer Ada, Countess of Lovelace, both at San Jose State University and at Books Inc. at Mountain View. Mountain View is also the home of the fascinating Computer History Museum where an exhibit featuring Ada and Lady Byron is on display for a year.
She was an invited speaker at the Biographers International Conference in Richmond Virginia, speaking on the Duel Biography Panel. She also spoke and listened at a fascinating round table about Women and Biography.
Ada, the Countess of Lovelace, now lauded as a computer pioneer, is of special interest to Julia, and she spoke of her not only at Oxford but at an Ada Lovelace Conference held at Steven's Institute of Technology. She spoke at Drew University as well on the inevitable demise of the art of letter writing and the changes it will mean not only for the biographer but for the contemporary novelist. And at the Book Revue at Huntington, NY she spoke on the similarities between fiction and nonfiction. See Press below.
Update! From Arkansas to Manhattan, from dogs her size to big dogs, Molly is always having fun.
Current Projects:
Julia is hard at work on her non-fiction novel, The Medium. As the world continues to heal and spring springs eternal, she will have time for new writing as well as the time to explore the lives of other vital women of note whose accomplishments have been left unsung. She is always enjoying time with Molly Mae-- her mini-schnauzer/mini-dachshund mix-- who has made pandemic life bearable.
Educational background: Julia holds a Ph,D in Victorian Literature, University of Maryland and an MA and BA in Comparative Literature from Boston University where she later received Boston University's Distinguished Alumna Award.
Further Awards & Work: Presently, Julia is on the board of NYU Biography Seminar, the advisory board of the Drew University Library in New Jersey and on the Board of Directors of the Byron Society of America. She is Professor Emerita of English and is the former Director of Creative Writing at Hofstra University. She has been a Visiting Fellow at Harris Manchester College, Oxford University. She received the Houghton Mifflin Literary Award for her first novel, UNCLE. She has won a National Endowment for the Arts grant and two National Endowment for the Humanities grants.
Current Projects:
Julia is hard at work on her non-fiction novel, The Medium. As the world continues to heal and spring springs eternal, she will have time for new writing as well as the time to explore the lives of other vital women of note whose accomplishments have been left unsung. She is always enjoying time with Molly Mae-- her mini-schnauzer/mini-dachshund mix-- who has made pandemic life bearable.
Educational background: Julia holds a Ph,D in Victorian Literature, University of Maryland and an MA and BA in Comparative Literature from Boston University where she later received Boston University's Distinguished Alumna Award.
Further Awards & Work: Presently, Julia is on the board of NYU Biography Seminar, the advisory board of the Drew University Library in New Jersey and on the Board of Directors of the Byron Society of America. She is Professor Emerita of English and is the former Director of Creative Writing at Hofstra University. She has been a Visiting Fellow at Harris Manchester College, Oxford University. She received the Houghton Mifflin Literary Award for her first novel, UNCLE. She has won a National Endowment for the Arts grant and two National Endowment for the Humanities grants.
Two of the remaining 9 women from Bletchley Park who did so much anonymous code-breaking during the Second World War. "That they came to Oxford during the celebration of Ada Lovelace was so moving that I did something atypical - I asked them for permission to take their picture. I also informed them I never take pictures, but that I admire all that they did. Okay, I admit it. I had tears in my eyes."
-J.
Julia on the driver's side of a driverless car at the Computer History Museum, Mountainview, CA. The future is now.
"When I was a Visiting Fellow at Oxford University researching Lady Byron, some of the women students asked me to join their "Stitch and Bitch' circle. I replied that tho I could bitch with the best of them, I could not stitch a stitch.. Happy to see that lack of stitching ability didn't discourage the editors of Smart Bitches from celebrating Lady Byron" -J.
BOOK REVIEW Lady Byron and Her Daughters by Julia Markus
Lady Byron and Her Daughters is a fantastic feminist biography of Byron’s wife, Annabella (Anne Isabella Milbanke). Annabella is usually remembered as the estranged wife of Lord Byron and the controlling mother of Ada Lovelace. This biography paints a more well-rounded picture of a woman who has often been portrayed as prudish and controlling, and points out her many contributions to education and philanthropy.
Annabella encountered Byron during the midst of “Byromania” (her phrase)...(click here to read the full review)
BOOK REVIEW Lady Byron and Her Daughters by Julia Markus
Lady Byron and Her Daughters is a fantastic feminist biography of Byron’s wife, Annabella (Anne Isabella Milbanke). Annabella is usually remembered as the estranged wife of Lord Byron and the controlling mother of Ada Lovelace. This biography paints a more well-rounded picture of a woman who has often been portrayed as prudish and controlling, and points out her many contributions to education and philanthropy.
Annabella encountered Byron during the midst of “Byromania” (her phrase)...(click here to read the full review)
PRESS:
Julia's lecture on Lady Byron, held at The New York Society Library on February 18th, was followed by a wonderfully pithy Q & A. Unfortunately the podcast is difficult to hear but you can find it on this link: https://www.nysoclib.org/events/julia-markus-lady-byron-and-her-daughters
Fordham Romanticism Group Celebrates the Lives of Lady Byron and Ada Lovelace, On October 16, the Fordham Romanticism Group and the Byron Society of America co-sponsored a talk by Julia Markus, author of Lady Byron and Her Daughters (Norton, 2015). Markus, a writer of three novels and four book-length biographies, detailed Ada Lovelace’s relationship with her parents, the intelligent and complex Lady Byron and the often indifferent and unavailable Lord Byron. Markus examined… (read the full article)
Female First. 21 things we didn't know about Lady Byron by Julia Markus: That Lady Byron was a brilliant human being (1792-1860) not the stereotypical demon Lord Byron turned her into in his later poetry. (For 20 more little known facts, click here).
2015 Ada Lovelace Bicentennial Events & Books, U.K. and U.S.: Dr. Julia Markus, professor of English at Hofstra University, has a new book, "Lady Byron and Her Daughters" (W. W. Norton & Company), coming out on October 13, 2015. The book is a startling re-evaluation of Lady Byron’s complex life as single mother and progressive force. (FindingAda.com community forum)
Biography by Julia Markus to be Published on Ada Lovelace Bicentenary: Dr. Julia Markus, professor of English and a core faculty member of Hofstra’s MFA in Creative Writing program, will see the publication of her new book, Lady Byron and Her Daughters (W. W. Norton & Company), on October 13, 2015, – a date that will be commemorated around the globe as Ada Lovelace Day, in honor of the 19th century female science and technology pioneer who was the daughter of Lord and Lady Byron. (full article)
Poets & Writers - Hofstra University Presents Julia Markus. (more)
Is letter writing dead?: Julia Markus will be talking about this at Drew University's celebration of the Byron Collection on April 12th. (learn more)
English Profs. Alice Levine and Julia Markus to present at National Byron Conference. (read article)
One of Hofstra's Own Great Writers Leads Book Revue Workshop.
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LINKS OF INTEREST:
Thirsty for all things Byron and Ada, Countess of Lovelace? Julia has just completed and released her latest biography, LADY BYRON AND HER DAUGHTERS, which traces Annabella Noel Byron's turbulent marriage to the poet, her big accomplishments and disappointments after it, and how as a single mother she raised her and Lord Byron's daughter, Ada the Countess of Lovelace, who wrote the first computer program in 1848, before there was a computer on which to run it! And how she attempted to save from sexual bondage her "adopted daughter" Medora Leigh, the adult child of Lord Byron's incestuous relationship with his sister.
Other Sites of Note: Biographers International Organization The Bluestocking Bulletin by Anne Boyd Rioux Hofstra University M.F.A. in Creative Writing Program Hofstra University Undergraduate Writing Studies |
"Ada, putting aside her childish ways, entering both society and matrimony. " LADY BYRON AND HER DAUGHTERS
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